Definitions for ballastˈbæl əst

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word ballast

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

ballast(noun)

any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship

ballast(noun)

coarse gravel laid to form a bed for streets and railroads

ballast(noun)

an attribute that tends to give stability in character and morals; something that steadies the mind or feelings

ballast resistor, ballast, barretter(noun)

a resistor inserted into a circuit to compensate for changes (as those arising from temperature fluctuations)

ballast, light ballast(verb)

an electrical device for starting and regulating fluorescent and discharge lamps

ballast(verb)

make steady with a ballast

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

ballast(Noun)

Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship (or in the gondola of a balloon), to provide stability.

ballast(Noun)

Anything that steadies emotion or the mind.

ballast(Noun)

Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads.

ballast(Noun)

A material, such as aggregate or precast concrete pavers, which employs its mass and the force of gravity to hold single-ply roof membranes in place.

ballast(Noun)

device used for stabilizing current in an electric circuit (e.g.in a tube lamp supply circuit)

ballast(Verb)

To stabilize or load a ship with ballast.

ballast(Verb)

To lay ballast on the bed of a railroad track.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Ballast(adj)

any heavy substance, as stone, iron, etc., put into the hold to sink a vessel in the water to such a depth as to prevent capsizing

Ballast(adj)

any heavy matter put into the car of a balloon to give it steadiness

Ballast(adj)

gravel, broken stone, etc., laid in the bed of a railroad to make it firm and solid

Ballast(adj)

the larger solids, as broken stone or gravel, used in making concrete

Ballast(adj)

fig.: That which gives, or helps to maintain, uprightness, steadiness, and security

Ballast(verb)

to steady, as a vessel, by putting heavy substances in the hold

Ballast(verb)

to fill in, as the bed of a railroad, with gravel, stone, etc., in order to make it firm and solid

Ballast(verb)

to keep steady; to steady, morally

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

Ballast

bal′last, n. heavy matter employed to give a ship sufficient immersion in the water, to insure her safe sailing with spread canvas, when her cargo and equipment are too light: that which renders anything steady.—v.t. to load with ballast: to make or keep steady: (Shak.) load.—n.Bal′last-heav′er. [Probably the Old Sw. barlast—bar, bare, and last, load, the mere load.]

If we can get the density of this instrument just right, it will sit neither sinking nor floating. Now that's easy to say but it's actually a considerable challenge to do... They weigh about 100 kilograms and we need to ballast them to approximately better than one gram. So that's a considerable challenge. The way that we do that is by putting them in tanks of water... and adding weights until they're just sinking; at which point we know they have the same density as the water that they're sitting in.